About Mzansi Digital
Enjoy Faster Internet
Enjoy a faster, more reliable, unlimited internet connection in your home or business. Connect wirelessly to our to network towers located at strategic, secure places around Delft.
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Our Mission
To create sustainable jobs within previously disadvantaged communities.
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Our Vision
To be the leader in community based decentralized contact centres.
About Mzansi Digital Republic
Building a digital highway between previously disadvantaged communities within Southern Africa.
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A Platform for Change
Dignity matters, and we believe that offering a hand -up, not a hand-out, is the only way to create lasting change. We believe that every community has the potential to be transformed into places of opportunity and prosperity by using their own community’s skills, creativity and resources – but often, they need help getting started.
Opportunity
Poor communities tend to stay poor, caught in a crippling cycle of Poverty. However technology holds the power to level the playing field – granting poor communities the same opportunities as wealthy communities. But only for those that have can access it.
Model & Infrastructure:
Current Infrastructure deployed for Wi-Fi has been significantly tested – 141,000 concurrent connections at peak demand. Local technical team is in place and trained to design, deploy and maintain infrastructure. More than 500 dedicated subscriber line customers, with 2,000 residents on the waiting list – also selling Wi-Fi usage coupons.
The Creative Solution:
A community continually transformed with its own resources
- The entrepreneurs took their money from the sale and left Delft.
- Pepkor raised Flash prices soon after the acquisition and pulled the call-centre out of the Delft community.
- Jobs were lost, the SACCO was shut down, community programs were defunded,
The profit from the sale of Flash did not benefit the community.
Key Learnings:
- The capacity to build great things is in the townships (though often dormant).
- To create lasting change in the community, the structure must perpetually help the township – or created value will leave.
It Starts With Access
Access changes everything!Connecting Impoverished Communities
Why it will work?
Delft has more than 100% saturation of “smart” phone technology per capita capable of using Wi-Fi / Fiber Internet. MDR has access to over 1,000 Spaza stores which need reliable internet and will serve as the distribution network for Wi-Fi vouchers sales and new dedicated subscriber lines. The demand for affordable, reliable highspeed internet is STRONG
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But How?
The Western Cape government built out Delft Wi-Fi infrastructure for a two-year trial in partnership with HoCM. MDR was created to run the trial, then would monetize the infrastructure thereafter, while providing ongoing free Wi-Fi to local schools. MDR worked with the telecommunication division of Tellumat, to assume, upgrade and expand the infrastructure enabling more Wi-Fi coverage and dedicated subscriber lines. The total cost of infrastructure built-out was ~$1 million USD. (combined Western Cape Government +Telumat)
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It's already happening
Skilled workers, inside Delft, are already managing the network infrastructure and technical support. Mzansi is charging 90% less than competitors in the region, while still throwing off cash from operations. Mzansi already has a state-of-the art call centre for customer support, as well as training, and job creation, in partnership with cloud call-centre firm Zaliab.
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